Apparatus for producing grooves in surfaces such as road surfaces

ABSTRACT

Grooves are formed in a pavement by means of planing chisels mounted on a tool holder carriage hitched to a tractor by means of a plurality of parallel bars to hold the carriage parallel to the surface to be grooved. The planing chisels are held stationary relative to the tool holder carriage and vertical or perpendicular relative to the surface to be grooved.

United States Patent 1191 Hoermann 1 Aug. 28. 1973 APPARATUS FORPRODUCING GROOVES [56] References Cited IN SURFACES SUCH AS ROADSURFACES UNITED STATES PATENTS ['75] Inventor; Hubert noe -manKaufbeuren, 370,119 9/1887 Brereton 299/36 Germany 1,829,591 10/1931Goddard 299/36 x 2,042,196 5/1936 Senz 299/36 X [73] Assignee: FirmaUnileit-Bayerische 3,606,469 9/1971 Hughes 299/39 Bitarnen-ChemleFerdinand Heinrich, Kaufering. Germany Primary ExaminerEmest R. Purser22 Filed: Sept. 28, 1971 Passe 21 Appl. No.: 184,439 57 ABSTRACT Groovesare formed in a pavement by means of planing [30] Foreign Application pi Data chisels mounted on a tool holder carriage hitched to a Oct 9 1970Germany P 20 49 588 9 tractor by means of a plurality of parallel barsto hold the carriage parallel to the surface to be grooved. The [52] Cl299/36 299/ 299/88 planing chisels are held stationary relative to thetool [51] Int. Cl. E0ic 23/09 holder carriage and vertical orperpendicular relative [58] Field of Search .j 2'99/36, 37, 88, 10 be 2Claims, 4 Drawing Figures II I I l I 5 O O O O Patented Aug. 28, 1973 I3,754,791

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

Patented Aug. 28, 1973 3,754,791

4 Sheets-5heet L3 Patented Aug. 28, 1973 3,754, 791

4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig.3

Patented Aug. 28, 1973 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING GROOVESIN SURFACES SUCH AS ROAD SURFACES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Theinvention relates to a method and apparatus for forming of grooveshaving sharp boundaries in the surfaces of roads, runways, or the like,for example for the insertion of markers or similar devices in saidgrooves.

The forming of strip like grooves in the pavement of roads, runways, orthe like by milling the grooves into the material of the pavement isknown. However, the milling permits only very low working speeds. On theother hand, it is also known that such grooves may be formed by means ofa device in which several rings provided with teeth are arranged on ashaft with spacings between the rings. The shaft is supported betweentwo wheels and the teeth penetrate into the pavement by rotating saidwheels. However, this method has the disadvantage that only a smallpenetration depth is possible, especially if the pavement material ishard. Here again, essentially a milling operation takes place.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to solve theabove problems, and to provide a method and apparatus by means of whichgrooves may be produced in the surface of a road independently of thecharacteristics of the road surface and with the necessary penetrationdepths, while simultaneously achieving high working speeds.

Anotherobject is to facilitate the formation of such grooves to anydesired depth and breadth.

A still further object is to avoid, in the formation of grooves andditches in the ground, in pavements or the like, a milling operation.

It is also an object to assure sharp boundaries of the grooves to beformed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention the grooves areproduced in pavements or the like by planing the respective material outof the pavement. The planing maybe accomplished at high operationalspeed, and the material of the pavement-may be removed to any desirabledepth and width. v e I In accordance with the inventionan apparatus isprovided for fonning grooves having sharp boundaries in the surfaces ofstreets, roads, runways or the like, for example for inserting markersinto the grooves. The apparatus has a tool holder which is moved overthe pavement and spaced therefrom. One or more'chisels are attachedinfixed positions to the tool holder. The chisels may be attached to thetool holder adjacent to each other.

It is especially practical to arrange several chisels one BRIEF FIGUREDESCRIPTION In order that the invention may be clearly understood, itwill now be described, by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying drawings; wherein,

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a tractor having attached thereto a planingapparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view ofa portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1without the chisels;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged rear view ofa portion of the apparatus of FIG. Iin which the tractor has been omitted; and

FIG. 4 is another enlarged side .view of a portion of the apparatusshowing the arrangement of the chisels.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings, andmore in particular to FIG. 1, tool carrier 7 is attached to a supportmember 2 by means of pivot rods 3,4,5 and 6. The support 2 is mounted onthe underside of a tractor l. The apparatus is movable along thepavement 10 by means of wheels 8 and 9. As seen in FIG. 1 fourtransversely spaced chisels ll, l2, l3, and 14 are secured to the toolcarrier 7.

In the arrangement of FIG. 3 six chisels ll, l2, 13, 14,15, and 16 areprovided which have tips l7, l8, I9, 20, 21 and 22 respectively. Thechisels are interconnected by means of a yoke 23 (FIGS. 1 and 3), whichin turn is connected by means of a piston rod 24 to the behind the otherso that each chisel penetrates the pavement to a greater depth than thepreceding chisel.

- In this arrangement the first chisels plane the material hydrauliccylinder 25, so that the elevations of the chisels above the ground areadjustable.

In the arrangement of FIG. 4 several rows of chisels I6, 26, 36, and 46are provided, one behind the other. The penetration depth of each rowdiffers from that of the other rows in such a manner that the backchisel 16 has the largest penetration depth whereas the front chisel 46has the smallest penetration depth. The front chisel 46 planes the topsurface of .the pavement, and the chisels 36, 26, and I6 planerespectively deeper layers of the pavement in that order. The differentadjustments of the penetration depth of the chisels is accomplished bymeans of hydraulic cylinders 25, 35, 45 and 55 connected to therespective chisels.

The tool" carrier 7 comprises a frame 27 (FIG. 2) which in turn isconnected by way of a piston rod 28 to the hydraulic cylinder 29, sothat the entire apparatus may be lowered at the start of a planingoperation, and raised at the end of the planing operation.

The actuation of the hydraulic cylinder is accomplished through pressureconduits and through valves which are actuated by the driver of thetractor I. For the sake of simplicity, only one pressure conduit 30 andone valve 31 are shown in FIG. I.

The apparatus according to the invention may also be used for levelingthe surface of road pavements, for example, if due to the use of spikedtires, different wear and tear has resulted, necessitating repair of thepavement.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specificembodiments, it is to be noted that it is intended to cover allmodifications and equivalents within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for forming a groove having sharp boundary walls allaround in the surface of roads, runways or the like wherein a toolholder is mounted on a carriage, whereby the tool holders are verticallyadjustable so that a plurality of tools which are arranged one behindthe other as viewed in the direction of advance of said carriage, may beadjusted to different penetration depths relative to said surface, theimprovement wherein said tools are chisels and wherein means areprovided for maintaining said chisels stationary relative to saidcarriage and vertical relative to said surface, and

means for pulling said carriage along said surface whereby saidstationary vertically extending chisels form the groove by planing sothat said boundary walls are also vertical even at the beginning and endof a groove.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said carriage comprisesfront wheel means only, and wherein said means for pulling said carriagecomprise a tractor and means for connecting said carriage to saidtractor, said connecting means comprising a plurality of parallel bars,means for hinging one end of each parallel bar to said carriage, andmeans for hinging the opposite end of each parallel bar to said tractorwhereby said chisels are maintained in their vertical working positionat all times.

1. In an apparatus for forming a groove having sharp boundary walls allaround in the surface of roads, runways or the like wherein a toolholder is mounted on a carriage, whereby the tool holders are verticallyadjustable so that a plurality of tools which are arranged one behindthe other as viewed in the direction of advance of said carriage, may beadjusted to different penetration depths relative to said surface, theimprovement wherein said tools are chisels and wherein means areprovided For maintaining said chisels stationary relative to saidcarriage and vertical relative to said surface, and means for pullingsaid carriage along said surface whereby said stationary verticallyextending chisels form the groove by planing so that said boundary wallsare also vertical even at the beginning and end of a groove.
 2. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said carriage comprises frontwheel means only, and wherein said means for pulling said carriagecomprise a tractor and means for connecting said carriage to saidtractor, said connecting means comprising a plurality of parallel bars,means for hinging one end of each parallel bar to said carriage, andmeans for hinging the opposite end of each parallel bar to said tractorwhereby said chisels are maintained in their vertical working positionat all times.